Cold health and weather warnings were issued for parts of the UK on Christmas Day.

Cold health warnings and weather warnings have been issued for parts of the UK on Christmas Day, as forecasters dashed hopes of a white Christmas.

Forecasters issued cold health warnings and weather warnings for parts of the UK on Christmas Day.

The UK Health Protection Agency (UKHSA) issued a yellow alert for southwest England from 18:00 on 25 December until noon on 27 December.

The Met Office’s yellow warning for winds covers a large part of southwest England, Somerset, and Wales, stretching from Cardiff and Swansea to Bangor. Winds gusted up to 68 mph (109 km/h) at Berry Head, Torbay, early Thursday.

Organisers of some Christmas and Boxing Day swimming meets in Devon and Cornwall have had to cancel events.

Overall, the Met Office warning covers 18 of the 22 council areas in Wales.

In southwest England, most temperatures on Christmas morning were between 1°C and 4°C (34°F and 39°F), but they were “feeling below freezing due to the wind chill,” BBC Weather’s Matt Taylor said.

He said winds around the coasts and in marshy areas have exceeded 40 mph at times, with gusts of 43 mph in Plymouth and 49 mph in Liscombe, Exmoor.

Met Office spokesman Ollie Claydon said it was “highly unlikely” the UK would see a White Christmas.

“We’re going to see a very dry picture across the UK over the next few days,” he said.

Although it’s not an official part of the UK, the Crown Dependency of Jersey experienced snow on Thursday morning.

The Jersey Met Section said it was only the third time since records began that snow was seen on the island on Christmas Day and the first since 1970.

According to the UKHSA, low temperatures are likely to have a modest impact on health and social care services, including “increased use of health services by vulnerable people” and “greater risks to the lives of vulnerable people”.

The Met Office said east-to-northeasterly winds will be particularly strong and gusty on Christmas Day.

Winds of 45-55 mph are expected, with gusts of 55-65 mph possible on some exposed coasts and west of major hills.

It added that “given the more unusual wind direction, this may cause some disruptions to transport and power supplies” and that “large waves will be an additional hazard on some coasts.”

Highs on Christmas Day were forecast to be around 7°C (45°F) in northeast England and 6°C in south or southeast England.

The Met Office said overnight frost and freezing temperatures are expected across the western countryside from Christmas Day to Boxing Day, with temperatures of -6°C possible in rural parts of Scotland and -4°C in rural Wales.

Organisers of the Coverack swim in Cornwall said with the weather forecast it would be “too dangerous” for the event to go ahead and postponed the programme until New Year’s Day.

The Start Bay Inn in Devon said it was “really sad” to announce that its Boxing Day swim had been cancelled, while the RNLI Teignmouth made a similar decision, stressing that “safety considerations must come first.”